Villagers describe the terrifying moment the ‘mother of all bombs’ was dropped by US killing 90 ISIS terrorists

Military sources say the hulking bomb had to be 'kicked out' the back of a US Air Force MC-130 cargo plane due to its colossal size

By Amanda Devlin, Jon Lockett and Mark Hodge

15th April 2017,8:55 am

Updated: 3rd May 2017,9:23 am

TERRIFIED villagers have described the ‘earsplitting blast’ which rang out for miles when the US military dropped the ‘Mother of all Bombs’ on ISIS caves in Afghanistan killing 90 brainwashed jihadi fighters.

Aerial footage released by the Pentagon shows the 21,000lb-mega-explosive – the biggest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat – striking a mountainside and overwhelming the rural landscape.

Shortly after the mega-bomb was successfully dropped, US officials released a startling 30-second clip revealing the full force of the blast which reportedly left a massive crater in the mountainous area.

Plumes of choking smoke are seen billowing into the sky after at least 90 ISIS militants were wiped out in the pinpoint strike in the Achin district of Nangarhar.

The video was posted on Twitter by US Forces Afghanistan.

The top US military commander in Afghanistan said on Friday his decision to deploy one of the largest conventional bombs used in combat was done in communication with officials in Washington and was a purely tactical decision.

“This was the right weapon for the right target,” General John Nicholson told reporters at a news conference in Kabul.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, aka, the ‘Mother Of All Bombs’

Archive footage of the U.S. Air Force MOAB bomb which destroy ed the Khorasan group stronghold in Afghanistan

“I want to assure you that our forces took every possible precaution to prevent civilian casualties.

“We have US Forces at the site and we see no evidence of civilian casualties nor have there been reports."

He blasted ISIS for the atrocities they had carried out including suicide bombers attacking peaceful demonstrations, the killing and wounding of hundreds of people, and suicide attacks against mosques.

“ISIS-K has dragged elders out of their homes in Nangarhar, beheaded them in front of their families.

“ISIS-K kidnapped wives and daughters and forced them to marry fighters,” he said.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that the bomb was used on "a system of tunnels and caves that ISIS fighters used to move around freely making it easier for them to target US military advisers and Afghan forces in the area".

He added: "The United States takes the fight very seriously and in order to defeat the group we must deny them operations space, which we did.

"The United States took all precautions necessary to prevent civilian casualties as a result of the operation."

Mr Spicer declined to comment on whether or not the US would consider using it on North Korea in the future.

He also refused to say whether or not President Trump personally authorised the use of the device.

It's not known whether or not President Trump personally authorised the use of the device

In a statement US Central Command said that the bomb was dropped at 7.32pm local time in Achin district, Nangarhar province in Eastern Afghanistan.

The statement said that the "strike was designed to minimise the risk to Afghan and US Forces conducting clearing operations in the area while maximising the destruction of ISIS fighters and facilities".

When unleashed, the 30ft weapon causes a huge shockwave after the explosion - collapsing tunnels and killing everyone within hundreds of metres.

What is a MOAB bomb?

The bomb is known officially as a GBU-43B or massive ordnance air blast weapon.

Based on the acronym, it has been nicknamed the "Mother Of All Bombs."

The weapon weighs 21,000lbs, unleashes 11 tons of explosives, is more than 30ft long and made of aluminium.

It was rapidly developed in the early 2000s around the time of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

The bomb is deployed using a parachute and uses four grid shaped fins and GPS positioning to hit the target.

The Pentagon did a formal review of legal justification for its combat use.

The GBU-43/B is the largest non-nuclear bomb ever deployed in combat.

The first time it was ever used in warfare was in a US Air Force attack on April 13 2017 when it was dropped on a cave complex believed to be used by ISIS fighters in the Achin district of Nangarhar province in Aghanistan.

It has a two-stage detonation powered by H6 explosive.

The first blast spreads highly flammable aluminum dust, while the second is the baric blast.

It sucks oxygen out from cave tunnels before quickly becoming a shock wave.

If you are within the blast radius it is most likely you will be vapourised, but those who escape with their lives will suffer massive internal damage to the ears, lungs and stomach.

Each bomb costs around £12.8 million

One official said: "It's a concussive blast. Everyone in the area is obliterated, ears are bleeding, or they're completely destroyed."

It's believed the Afghan government was aware of the US plan to bomb the IS tunnel complex.

Presidential spokesman Shah Hussain Murtazawi said on Facebook: "Heavy casualties have been inflicted on the enemy."

General John W. Nicholson, Commander of US Forces in Afghanistan, said: "As ISIS losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defence.

"This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS."

The army targeted the Achin district of Nangarhar province five days after US Special Forces Staff Sergeant Mark De Alencar was reportedly killed by ISIS in the area.

Military sources say the bomb had to be "kicked" out the back of a US Air Force MC-130 cargo plane due to its colossal size.

"We kicked it out the back door," one U.S. official told Fox News.

The GBU-43 is a 21,600 pound GPS-guided munition and was first tested in March 2003 - just days before the start of the Iraq war.

How does an MOAB bomb compare to a nuclear weapon?

IT has been dubbed the mother of all bombs, but is the GBU-43/B really more powerful than a nuclear weapon?

The MOAB is hailed as America's most powerful non-nuke.

But despite the fact it will kill everyone within 300metres, the MOAB is nowhere near as dangerous as atomic bombs, with only a yield blast of 0.011 KT. In fact the level of damage caused by a nuclear weapon and an MOAB differs by a factor of 1,000.

However, the pair do a share a blast radius of around one mile. Nuclear bombs release nuclear radition and heat, which produces a much larger amount of energy.

Some research shows that a single, small nuclear bomb releases as much energy as 40,000 non-nuclear bombs like the MOAB. Conventional bombs are weaker because they only have a chemical reaction when set off.

The 1.2 megaton B-83 is one of the largest nukes in the current US arsenal. Just milliseconds after detonation 19,000 pounds of highly complex explosive enegry is released - causing a barometric shock.

Known as 'overpressure' the shock moves at the speed of sound away from ground zero.

General John Nicholson, who heads US Forces Afghanistan, described the weapon as the "right munition" to reduce IS obstacles and maintain the momentum against jihadists in the region.

The US military had tested the bomb for a decade and had been waiting for an appropriate target to deploy it.

The bombing sent a powerful message to President Trump's foes in Russia and North Korea - which is said to be on the verge of a sixth nuclear test.

Russia constructed a device four times as powerful as the MOAB in 2007 but President Putin is yet to use it in combat.